The Promise: The Omnibus (Parts 1-3)
45 pages • 1-hour read
Gene Luen Yang, Bryan Konietzko, Michael Dante DiMartinoThe Promise: The Omnibus (Parts 1-3)
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Symbols & Motifs
Scars
Scars are a motif utilized throughout the Avatar franchise, and in The Promise, they carry a particularly strong symbolic significance. At the outset of the story, Earth King Kuei likens the Fire Nation’s colonies in his kingdom to scars, remarking, “For the Earth People, they’re like a constant reminder of the war, like an old scar” (11). This simile has complex connotations since scars do not always fully heal, even though Kuei is determined to completely erase the Fire Nation's presence in the Earth Kingdom. Team Avatar quickly discovers that, just like scarred tissue that can never return to its original state, the impact of Fire Nation colonialism on the Earth Kingdom is largely irreversible.
In the same breath that he compares the colonies to scars, Kuei apologizes to Zuko for using a potentially insensitive metaphor (11). The large scar across Zuko’s face, which was dealt to him by his father during their infamous duel, is a physical manifestation and reminder of Fire Lord Ozai’s cruelty toward others, even his son. Zuko’s response to Kuei—“After all the pain my father has caused me, it’s my duty to bring healing to the world” (11)—ties his personal struggles to the struggles of colonized peoples in the Earth Kingdom and other nations. The Fire Nation has “scarred” both Zuko’s body and the Earth Kingdom society. This metaphor is reinforced later when Zuko tells Aang, “My family’s legacy is still a part of me. That’s why it’s my duty to heal the scars that the Fire Nation has left on the world” (17). The affinity between Zuko’s experience and the experience of everyday people in Yu Dao, indicated by the metaphor of the scar, subtly suggests to readers that Zuko will be the leader best suited to find a way toward healing the world.
The Four Elements
In the Avatar universe, the four elements are not merely different materials that people can bend; they also symbolize the entire respective cultures of the people who bend them. This symbolism is reflected in the very design of the four bending types, modeled on real-life martial arts schools, all of which have different philosophies and cultural origins; waterbending is based on tai chi, earthbending on Hung Ga kung fu, airbending on baguazhang, and firebending on Northern Shaolin kung fu. In the wake of the Hundred Year War, increased interaction between different types of benders threatens to erode each of these four cultures.
The division between the four cultures is based in the differences between their respective elements, and in the novel, the subtext of the elements connects to real-world racism. For example, Yang simulates the use of racially derogatory language in multicultural societies by creating a “slur” that the earthbenders use against firebenders (“ashmaker”) and one that firebenders like Kunyo use against Toph repeatedly (“dirt girl”). For a young audience, this allegorical treatment of real-world racial tensions allows them to engage with the seriousness of the issue without exposure to explicit language and without feeling personally implicated in the story.
Tea
Ozai and Iroh both use tea in their interactions with Zuko and becomes a motif associated with Zuko’s internal struggle between good and evil. Readers who previously watched the animated series will be familiar with Iroh’s passion for all things tea: brewing, tasting, serving, and more. This enthusiasm is what leads him to open The Jade Dragon, a successful tea shop in Ba Sing Se. In The Promise, readers see Iroh using tea as a tool for generating positivity and healing. At the very end of the book, his tea service at The Jade Dragon brings Aang and Zuko together to finally talk through everything that has happened between them, leading to much-needed apologies and reconciliation.
However, Ozai’s use of tea corrupts the beverage’s positive associations, as he weaponizes it as a tool for exercising authority over Zuko. In Part 1, he taunts Zuko with the tea, telling him, “We’ll talk while sipping from steaming little cups, much like you did with my traitorous brother…Wouldn’t that be nice? Perhaps even the subject of your mother will come up” (28). This dialogue reveals that Ozai is aware of tea’s significance to Zuko and Iroh and is intentionally perverting that association with togetherness into something more sinister. By dangling information about Ursa in front of Zuko in exchange for tea, Ozai can reestablish control over Zuko despite being confined to jail. This social control is reinforced by the manual labor required of Zuko to physically bring and serve the tea to his father, as if Ozai is still the Fire Lord being waited on, rather than a war criminal confined to prison.
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